On 16 May 2026, a march took place to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the ‘Nakba’ - the mass expulsion and displacement of more than 750,000 Palestinians in the wake of the establishment of state of Israel. In the wake of the ongoing genocide, these events are needed more than ever to maintain awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people.
However, this year, far-right figure and convicted felon, Tommy Robinson organised his so-called ‘Unite the Kingdom March’ (UTK) to coincide with the march.
This prompted the pro-Palestine march to take on broader dimensions and also identify as a ‘Unite against Tommy Robinson and the Far Right’ event.
Circulating estimates put the turnout of the march at around 250,000 demonstrating widespread opposition to the Israel’s genocide along with showing defiance against the UTK march and the growing far-right presence.
Far from uniting the country, the UTK has continued to spew divisive rhetoric and Islamphobia. During the last UTK, Elon Musk said, via video call, that “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that's the truth, I think.”
This UTK, one speaker called for the removal of Islam from “every place of authority”.
Below are some images of some prosters, which always seem to be majority women.
Inevitably, there was a strong a police presence and also counter demonstrators.
While most of them remained seperated off by the police, one walked into crowd. While provoking anger, it is worth highlighting that despite some inevitable verbal responses, he was physically left alone until the police removed him.
The rest of the counter protesters and the police presence are depicted below.
These images show some of the reactions to the counter protesters.
Of significant note was the very visible Jewish presence at the protest. The cannot and should not be understated. In the wake of the attacks in Golders Green, there was a massive push to blame the attacks on the pro-Palestine movement and protests.
While trying to wrongly frame these marches as hateful is nothing new, this time conversation seemed to be more prevalent and widespread. It went as far as mainstream outlets, such as LBC, hosting call in shows on whether the protests should be banned, ignoring the rights and implication a ban would have. Amidst the government’s continued proscription of Palestine Action and its continued arrest of peaceful protests, the media complicity should be seen as nothing short of chilling.
Throughout the march there was a range of expression at the protest. See the gallery below to see additional images depicting this diversity.
